How to get rich without getting lucky (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#71

Post by gowld » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:12 AM UTC

fzeroracer wrote: post #67

This article honestly read like something out of a bullshit self-help book. There's a lot of tidbits in there that sort of ignore the reality for most people and how one small injury, accident etc can spiral out of control and bankrupt someone, at least in America. But reading this part especially stood out to me > We all know people who are consistently pessimistic, who will shoot down everything. Everyone in their…

Usually when they break things they break other people, for profit. So having a conscience doesn't help them.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#72

Post by nostrademons » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:13 AM UTC

JamesBarney wrote: post #15

Anyone one of his thousand claims could be an interesting article. For instance "equity is a better way to get rich than working". Is it, I bet the average googler accumulates more wealth than the average start-up founder. Or "how much start-up success is based off luck versus founder?"(from what I've read it's more luck, and if you include the birth luck such as intelligence, energy-levels, focus and health it would…

I made a lot more money at Google than from various startups I've worked at or founded.

I made a lot more money from equity I got while working at Google than I did in salary. The ratio when I started working at Google was about 3:1:2 salary:bonus:equity; the ratio as it stands 10 years later, after a 7:1 appreciation in the stock price, was about 3:1:20.

This is not inconsistent with "equity is a better way to get rich than working".

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#73

Post by gowld » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

karmakaze wrote: post #4

dhfromkorea wrote: post #3

It would have been more interesting if they could share deeper, nuanced arguments for setting wealth as the objective function. Sure, wealth past a certain point admits a lot of freedom---but what next beyond that point? But the utility function over wealth (x: wealth, y: utility) is sub-modular in nature. When the curve gets flat, what metric must one use to measure her life's worth? Is there even one as such? Havin…

I imagine when you get to that point you focus in transforming x into y or just produce y independent of x.

Usual not, though. People get stuck on X, or just squandering it on expensive luxury.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#74

Post by PopeDotNinja » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #64

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wealth = freedom to do what you want. I have a friend who is pretty wealthy. I've noticed he spends a fair amount of time worrying that his money is secure. Seems like the ultimate first world problem to me, but it's real.

Seems like the issue is having enough cushion so that your lifestyle is well below your means, so you can invest very conservatively without having to worry about your circumstances changing. Of course, this can be accomplished by either dramatically increasing your assets, or by dramatically decreasing your expenditures.

Good points. In this case, I was attempting to refer to he's concerned he'll get hacked, or a trusted associate w/ access to the money would run off with it.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#75

Post by opportune » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

tomhoward wrote: post #62

JamesBarney wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting a job at Google is way easier than starting a large successful software company.

And both are effectively impossible for many people in the world. His advice is meant to be applicable for people who aren't lucky enough to have either of those options. The option to invest in income-generating assets over costly status-signalling devices is available to far more people in the world. E.g. https://www.kiva.org/about/impact/success-stories

One (starting a successful large software business) is still much harder than the other (getting an offer at google, which people like me have got). It's a matter of order of magnitudes of difference

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#76

Post by gowld » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:21 AM UTC

toomanyrichies wrote: post #32

notaboutdave wrote: post #17

How to get rich. What a lame life goal, and a terrible starting point for anyone trying to do good in the world.

That’s debatable at best. Bill Gates has saved countless lives through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which wouldn’t exist if not for the money he made founding MSFT. A quick Google search would reveal many similar examples as well.

How do you know that the people he took money from in his illegal monopoly operation wouldn't have saved more lives?

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#77

Post by chillwaves » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:22 AM UTC

lone_haxx0r wrote: post #52

darth_skywalker wrote: post #20

>> But then of course Uncle Sam show up, and basically say, “Hey, you know what, you just made a lot money this year. Therefore, you’re rich. Therefore, you’re evil and you’ve got to hand it all over to us.” The government doesn't tax rich people because they're evil - they tax rich people to provide food, education, and security for society. Progressive taxes are useful because they help fight poverty and allow the…

Why do you assume that the only way for people to have food, education and security is through taxation? Why do you assume that without taxes the system would devolve into poverty and extreme inequality? The economy is not a linear equation with taxation and poverty as inversely related variables.

We have seen what society looks like without a safety net provided by the government. That is the reason why these programs were created in the first place.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#78

Post by 5440 » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:23 AM UTC

Is there a relationship between the timing of this post and the fact he was on the Joe Rogan show this week?

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#79

Post by mempko » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:36 AM UTC

fallingfrog wrote: post #44

In other words, own productive capital and live off the rent it generates. Personally I think such capital should be owned by the workers at a business so that they don’t have parasitic individuals like the author to support. It’s nice for you if you have a lot of wealth and don’t have to work, but the rest of us pay the price of that, and only a tiny slice of society can ever live that way, for obvious reasons.

not sure why you are downvoted, good take.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky (2018)

#80

Post by gnicholas » Fri, Jun 07, 2019, 4:40 AM UTC

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #74

gnicholas wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like the issue is having enough cushion so that your lifestyle is well below your means, so you can invest very conservatively without having to worry about your circumstances changing. Of course, this can be accomplished by either dramatically increasing your assets, or by dramatically decreasing your expenditures.

Good points. In this case, I was attempting to refer to he's concerned he'll get hacked, or a trusted associate w/ access to the money would run off with it.

Did your friend come up with any solutions to the trusted associate issue? Seems like there are two obvious approaches: the carrot (pay your employees well above market rates) or the stick (a literal stick, in the extreme) to encourage loyalty.

But there are presumably other ways to engineer your account permissions so that one or two rogue associates cannot clean you out?